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Building a website that converts visitors to customers takes time and effort. In order to streamline this process, it is vital to create a plan. This will help to identify potential problems early on, leaving you to focus on your website’s goals and objectives.
After all, the sooner you launch, the sooner your website can be a strong source of new business for years to come, working for you 24/7.
From having a few obvious call-to-action’s to displaying relevant, fresh content, below is a list of the essential elements that every business website needs.
1. Clearly describe who you are and what you do
When a visitor lands on your website, they should be able to tell what you do within a few seconds. You should clearly display your business name and display an overview of your products or services using a mix of images, videos, and text.
2. A simple domain name
Your domain name or web address is like your brand, being used for both your website and email addresses. It should be easy for anyone to type in and easily remember.
Keep your domain name simple. Avoid using numbers which can confuse visitors, and dashes as they can potentially cause SEO problems.
3. A few obvious call-to-action’s
A call-to-action is an instruction to the visitor to provoke an immediate response. Use them to tell your visitors what you want them to do in clear terms. For example, you might want them to ‘call now for free quote’, or ‘sign up’ to your newsletter.
4. Visible contact information
Website visitors expect to find information fast, if they can’t they will go elsewhere. Most visitors don’t have the patience to click through multiple pages on your website to find your contact information. The best place to display your contact information is the top left or top right corner of every page as well as the sidebar and footer (where applicable).
5. Keep content fresh and relevant
Ensuring your website has fresh content shows customers they have reached an active business that they can trust. Most of your pages won’t require regular updates, but you should include a blog or news page that displays upcoming events, company milestones, new product launches, sales and other noteworthy events. This shows you have an active, growing business and will also greatly help improve your search-engine ranking. Remember that Google will reward your website if you provide frequent, relevant content about your industry. Sharing these blog posts to your social media profiles will help strengthen your brand and demonstrate to google that you are active and relevant.
Finally, don’t forget to include a newsletter sign-up on your website to grow your audience.
6. Customer testimonials or case studies
Displaying honest testimonials or case studies from clients and customers can help increase trust and tangibility in your product or service. The reason testimonials work so well is because they are genuine, unbiased opinions from people that have used your product or service, as opposed to a strong sales pitch that visitors see right through.
Use testimonials that explain how the product or service satisfied the customer or clients needs. This will help to create tangible value to your visitors, making them more likely to convert to a customer.
7. Create a design that is pleasing and functional
Web visitors can intuitively tell the difference between a well thought out design that provides clear information, and a design that has been thrown together and is hard to navigate. Whether you choose to use striking images, an engaging video, illustrative graphics, or all of the above. The key is to make sure you plan and test your design thoroughly in order to achieve the best results.
When writing content, use the following points to keep you on track:
• Break text down into short, concise paragraphs.
• Use bullet points where applicable.
• Try not to use more than 3 Typefaces (i.e. Aviner, Futura, and Helvetica).
• Try not to use more than 3 font sizes.
Applying these design principles will help you achieve a professional design that visitors will connect with.
8. Social media
An active social media presence helps to build trust with your audience by opening a two-way communication with them. It can also help improve your search engine ranking if it links back to your website.
If you need help building your website, then contact me for a free quote.
